A focus on Indianapolis from the perspective of a 20-something. To publish stories that aren't being heard otherwise. To encourage activity among fellow citizens. To show that everyone deserves fair and equal treatment under the law.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

The Indiana General Assembly is in session. Whenever state legislative assemblies are in session, there seems to be a contest over who can be the absolute worst at legislating, and our Assembly certainly gives the others a run for the money.

As I wrote two years ago, similar efforts in Florida showed that TANF recipients had a lower-than-average rate of illegal drug usage than the general population. Florida also cost a lot more than any money that was saved. And the legality of the Florida law has been put in question, with a US Court of Appeals saying that no "special need" has been shown to justify suspending 4th Amendment rights for TANF recipients.

For an assembly that is supposed to be all about jobs, education, and the economy, I fail to see how legislation that specifically is designed to punish poor people for being poor advances any of those goals. I also don't see why this is allowed to proceed when many other groups of people who get money from the State of Indiana one way or another are not given similar treatment.

So why is Ivy Tech, an institution set up for Hoosiers to get into (or in my case, back into) higher learning, allowing a paper mill like University of Phoenix to set up shop and recruit students on campus? I saw it at the Lawrence campus this morning.

It is not uncommon for any number of trade schools, universities, and even employers to set up booths at any number of colleges or universities, or to attend academic fairs. Especially at a college that has a lot of people that will need to transfer to a university at some point to finish their degree.

But by letting them onto the campus, Ivy Tech is lending some amount of credibility to them. Credibility that they neither have earned or deserve. They exist only to leech off of government loans and grants to give their shareholders a profit.

About Me

Student at IUPUI with a background in journalism. I've written for Y-Press (published in the Indianapolis Star), Indianapolis Music Net (http://www.indianapolismusic.net), Bishop Chatard's student paper the Trojan Tribune, as well as various newsletters. I worked for the Hillary Clinton campaign for a week during the primary, and hope to work in politics some more. I may be a bit of a nerd and especially enjoy studying history, particularly the American Civil War.